Dream in Ashes
by BlackShadowScythe
Summary: On his way back to Pallet Town, after parting with Cilan and Iris, Ash stumbles upon Team Rocket who are once again trying to kidnap Pikachu. Team Rocket is accompanied by a strange young man with red hair who, seeing that Ash has a 5 more pokemon and a full set of badge challenges him to a match. The young man emerges the victor, leading Ash to question his whole journey thus far.
1. Chapter 1: Broken Spirit

"Ash!"

There she is again, Ash thought.

"Ash!"

Calling for me.

"Are you alright up there sweety?"

I know she's worried about me.

"I made breakfast."

But if I go down, she will want to talk. I can't face her right now. Because I have no words to express what I feel except, completely, utterly useless. It's been nearly five years since I've started my journey. Since I first left Pallet Town with Pikachu... Pikachu.

Ash turned to look at his oldest friend with dull eyes. The electric mouse was curled up in a ball on Ash's bed, fast asleep. The only reason Ash still had him was because the young man from Team Rocket had taken pity on him. After he had opened his eyes to the truth. The reality that everything he had done in the last five years, every battle fought, every badge earned, every league enter, had been a complete and total waste of time. Nothing he had done in the last five years had brought him any closer to being a Pokemon Master. He realized that now.

Looking back on it, he realized that he had never had even the slightly chance of ever become a Pokemon Master. He reached for a pokeball on his belt. He could still remember every instant of that battle. Every motion made by his pokemon, every command he had given and the look of distaste on the young man's face. He had defeated his whole team with just a single pokemon and his name... was Silver.


	2. Chapter 2: A Typical Ambush

"The Kalos region sounds pretty cool huh Pikachu?" Ash smiled.

"Pika, Pika!"

"I bet we'll get a ton of badges and meet all kinds of pokemon!"

They followed the path they had walked many times before until they began to see the roofs of houses peeking out from behind the grass hills outside of Pallet Town.

"Look Pikachu, we're almost there buddy! I can't wait to see Professor Oak and everyone else!"

Suddenly a feminine laugh rang from the bushes behind him. "Not them again." Ash groaned.

"Prepare for trouble!" the voice sang. Then the figure of a young woman leaped out from the brush and landed a several feet from Ash and Pikachu. The woman had long magenta colored hair and blue eyes.

"And make it double." another voice cried. A man with long blue hair jumped out from the brush and stood beside the woman.

"Guys could we do this some other time?" Ash said. "Alright Pikachu, it's time for thunderbolt."

"Ah but this time we came prepare." Jessie cried.

"With a secret weapon!" Meowth said, stepping out from the bushes. He had a remote in his paws. He pushed a button and a gloved hand reached out and grabbed Pikachu. Pikachu released a blast of electricity which was absorbed by the hand.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried. He gritted his teeth and reached for a pokeball, ready for anything Team Rocket had to throw at him. They had gotten a lot better recently, but he knew he could take them. "Go Pignite!" he said, tossing the pokeball.

The capsule hit the ground and his Pignite popped out. It huffed and a puff of fiery breath billowed out of it's nose. "Pignite!" it cried.

"Pignite, free Pikachu with Brick Break!"

"Hold it!" a voice said. This was a new voice, one Ash had never heard before. He looked up and saw a boy who looked to be around his age step out from behind a tree. The boy had long red hair and red eyes that seemed familiar to Ash, although he couldn't remember were he had seen them before.

"Mini Boss!" Team Rocket said in unison. All three of them stepped aside.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" the red hair boy cried.

"Boss?" Ash whispered.

"He doesn't look all that strong to me." the boy said, to no one in particular."How many badges does he have?"

"40 gym badges, 4 from the orange islands and 7 frontier symbols." Ash said, proudly.

"I guess that means you haven't won any pokemon leagues." the boy said, "Otherwise you would only need 8."

"Huh?"

The boy sighed. He looked exasperated, as if explaining something to a small child. He pulled back his jacket, revealing 8 badges Ash recognized as the badges of Johto. "I won eight badges and the Johto league in my first year of training."

Ash snarled. "Just give me back Pikachu!" he cried. He dove for Meowth, trying to snatch Pikachu from the cat pokemon's paws. Suddenly he heard the sound of a pokeball burst open and a Feraligator appeared in front of him. He stepped back in shock.

Ash turned his head and saw Silver holding an empty pokeball in his hand, "Let's make a bet shall we?" he said, "We'll have a three on three battle. If you win we'll return Pikachu to you and I make sure my friends here don't come near your Pikachu again. But if I win, I get to keep Pikachu."

"What!?" Ash cried, "No deal! Pikachu's mine!" He grabbed for Pikachu again, but what blocked by Feraligator, who shoved him to the ground.

"You want to be a Pokemon Master right?" the boy said, with a smug look on his face, "What better way to train then to battle the heir of Team Rocket?"


	3. Chapter 3: Heir of Team Rocket

"Heir of Team Rocket!?" Ash said and he suddenly realized why the boy had seemed so familiar to him. He was the son of the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni.

Ash had met Giovanni in Unova where he had been trying to control a trio of legendary pokemon using Meloetta. This boy didn't look much like his father, but there was one noticeable resemblance between the two; their eyes. The boy had the same piercing eyes, malice filled eyes as his father.

"You heard right twerp!" Meowth said, "This here's Team Rocket's number two and future number one!"

"Feraligator, your object is 6 pokemon. Conserve your attacks and make no unnessary movements." the boy commanded, "Our first target this Pignite! Use Aerial Ace!"

Before Ash could even react, Feraligator leaped into the air. A white aura formed around it's body and it shot at Pignite with incredible speed.

"Ah! Pignite!" Ash cried, running to his fallen pokemon. "How does a Feraligator learn an attack like Aerial Ace?" he wondered.

"As a trainer you must take many factors into account in a battle. Most basic is selection of a reliable team. All of my pokemon are breed for battle. They have more strength, stamina and agility an ordinary pokemon. A skilled trainer is able to train a pokemon to learn skills it normally couldn't and breed a few in." the boy smiled, "such as this one."

Before Ash had a chance to recall Pignite, Feraligator came rushing at him, its claws glowing with a blinding white light. Feraligator raised it's claws, about to rake Ash across the face when something snatched Feraligtor's claw, stopping the attack.

"Charizard!" Ash cried, "Hurry use Semismic Toss!"

Charizard let out a roar that shook the trees. It picked Feraligator up and soared up into the sky. Ash looked at the boy who was staring at the ground.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu cried happily.

"Ice Punch..." the boy whispered. He said it so quietly Ash barely heard it.

Ash looked up and gasped. He saw Charizard falling from the sky it's wings encased in a thick block of ice. "Charizard! Try to break free!" he shouted.

Charizard roared and flexed his wings, shattering the ice. It turned it's head to Ash and flashed a smiled filled with dagger sharp teeth. "Hydro Pump." the boy said just as a enormous torrent of water came crashing down on Charizard. At the top of the column of liquid was Feraligator who slowly descended from the sky, using the pressure of the attack to cushion his fall.

Feraligator landed squarely on Charizard's stomach. Ash stepped back in shock. The boy stared at Charizard with disdain, "I thought you would be a little stronger then this."


	4. Chapter 4: Uneffective Strategies

Ash clenched his fists in frustration. This trainer had defeated 2 of his pokemon with one. Even worse, Feraligator hadn't broken a sweat doing it. He remember how Giovanni's Persian had defeated Pikachu in a single blow. If this boy was half was powerful as his father was, Ash didn't stand a chance. Still, he had three pokemon left. The battle wasn't over yet. He just needed a strategy.

He reached for his pokeballs. He had Oshawott, Snivy, and Krookodile. Snivy would be strong against a water type. Suddenly, he thought of a strategy.

"Snivy go!" he cried, throwing Snivy's pokeball, "Use Attract!"

Ash crossed his fingers, praying that Feraligator was a male.

"Feraligator use Aerial Ace." the boy commanded, slashing his hand through the air. With a burst of speed, Feraligator darted forwards hitting Snivy in its chest. Snivy let out a cry of pain and collapsed.

"How...?" Ash whimpered, his voice shaking. He looked down at his hands. They were trembling. He had never felt such fear. He had always been confident in battles. He had always trusted in his pokemon, but that trust was being torn apart slowly as this boy, a whole year younger than he was, took down his pokemon, one after the other.

"Don't you listen?" the boy snorted, "I told you. My pokemon are breed for battle. They are unaffected by such attacks. Would you like to forfeit while you still have some pokemon left?"

"Never!" Ash cried, "Pikachu is my friend and my not going to let someone like you take him!"

"Someone like me?" the boy sneered.

"Someone who treats his pokemon the way you do!" Ash cried, "You talk about them like you own them! Like they were your tools!" he explained, "Pokemon are our friends, but I don't expect a guy like you to understand that! That's why, I not leaving without Pikachu!"


	5. Chapter 5: Last Hope

"Heh," the boy snickered. His amusement grew louder and quickly became a bold laugh.

"What's so funny?" Ash ashed, suspiciously.

"You say that and yet you neglect to train them properly and allow them lie on the ground in that sorry state?" he said, pointing to Snivy. "Shameful." he shook his head, pityingly. "If you truly cared about your pokemon you would take better care of them."

The boy patted Feraligator on the back. "This one for example: Is breed from a Feraligator and Empoleon, giving him powerful teeth and claws, as well as acute senses."

As he said this, Feraligator whirled around and aimed an ice punch at the ground. The dirt crumble and collapsed, revealing a deep hole in the ground. The boy swiftly leaped out of the way as more of the ground collapsed. Jessie and James however, were no so skilled and tumbled into the pit with Meowth and Pikachu falling after them.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried. Darting to the edge of the hole.

"You can only blame yourself for being so careless." the boy said, quietly as Ash's Krookodile was flung out of the ditch. Feraligator emerged a second later, pouncing on Krookodile and landing an Ice Punch on its stomach.

"You have one left." the boy remarked, "What will it be?"

Ash ignored him, "Pikachu!" he cried, cuffing his hands around his mouth and peering down into the ditch. There was a cloud of dirt billowing out of it that prevented him from see what was going on inside.

Ash clamped his eyes shut tight and covered his face with his sleeve. Then he jumped down into the hole.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!" he heard the boy shout.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried through the dust. Suddenly something furry leaped into his arms.

"Pikachu?"

"You got that wrong twerp!" Meowth said. Ash felt searing pain as Meowth landed a round of Furry Swipes across his face.

Ash cried out in pain and shoved Meowth off his face, "Oshawott!"

"Crobat, Defog!" a voice called.

As the dust cleared, Ash opened his eyes and saw the red hair trainer standing on the other side of the the hole with Feraligator and a large Crobat at his side. The boy lifted his arm and the Crobat perched on it, hanging upside down.

"A Crobat..." Ash echoed.

The boy gave Ash a smug smile, "Yes, but unfortunately your opponent for today will be Feraligator." he pointed at Oshawott, "Finish it quickly. We are due back at Headquarters."

"Oshawott use Aqua Jet!" Ash cried, as Oshawott's body was engulfed in water. It darted forward like a rocket and shoot itself at Fertaligator.

As Oshawott approached it, Fertaligator slowly lifted its hand. Oshawott slammed into Feraligator's palm and was immediantly frozen in a block of ice. Oshawott fell to the ground, delirious and unable to move.

Ash had lost... the battle... Pikachu... lost. And worst, he hadn't even been able to land a single blow.


	6. Chapter 6: Dreams Shattered

Ash fell to his knees. He had lost. He trembled uncontrollably as he noticed Pikachu trapped inside a glass capsule that James held tightly in his hands. The red haired boy walked up to him.

"Pathetic." he said, "Did you buy all those badges?"

"Who are you?" he whispered, still trembling.

"As I told you before, I am the heir of Team Rocket, Silver of Viridian City." he said, giving Ash a shoved. He fell onto his back and Silver flipped over the flap of his jacket, relieving Ash's Unova gym badges. "It's hard to imagine a trainer like you could beat this many gym leader, but then again gym battles are designed for the challenger to win."

"What?" Ash whispered in shock.

Silver let out a snort of amusement, "What? You didn't really think they fought they challengers seriously did you? It is an honor to be named a gym leader by the league. To be worthy of the rank you must devote your life to training. Are you honestly so gullible that you think someone like you could stand a chance against their real teams?"

"No," Ash said shaking his head, "I beat all the gyms leaders from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova fair and square."

"Don't you get what I'm saying?" Silver sighed, "The gym battles are designed for the challengers to emerge victorious. All the badges in the world don't mean a damn thing if you are not able sweep your gym battles. Until you reach that level, you don't even have a chance of winning the Pokemon League, let alone become Champion of a region."

Suddenly a beeping sound came from Silver's pocket. He sighed and turned to the trio, "We are needed back at headquarters, unfortunately." he said. He walked up to James, "Call the balloon."

"Yes sir!" James said, saluting. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a remote control and pushed a button. The sound of rockets blared overhead as a cumbersome, Meowth themed, hot air balloon soared over the hole and hover over them. A long rope held from the balloon and one by one, the trio ascended their craft.

Before James could climb on, Silver snatched the roped away, "Return the Pikachu." he demanded.

"But Boss." James protested.

Silver sneered, "Look at him," he said, referring to Ash, "He's done for. Let him go home with his pets. It's all he has left."

Silver climbed up onto the balloon and James followed, reluctantly setting Pikachu down on the ground before ascending the balloon. Flames shot out of the rockets on the sides of the balloon and it soared up into the sky. Ash watched till it disappeared from sight. Then he closed his eyes and started to cry.


	7. Chapter 7: Never Again

Ash lifted his head. He had fallen asleep without realizing and the sun was being to set outside his bedroom window. He rose from his chair and head towards the door. He stopped and looked down at his feet. He lifted his hand and touched the rim of his hat with his fingers.

"Never again." he whispered, under his breath. Then he snatched the hat off his head and dropped it on the floor of his bedroom. He let out a cried of frustration and stomped on his hat, as if trying to kill a bug pokemon. Tears streamed down his eyes though he struggled to hold them back. He bit his lip and wiped his tears on his cheek. Then he closed his eyes and smiled softly.

"Never again." he said softly and turned the doorknob. He headed down the stairs and into the kitchen where his mother and Pikachu were waiting, along with the Mr. Mime, who acted as a butler of sorts to the family. The two were washing dishes when Ash arrived while Pikachu sat and watched politely.

"Pika, Pika!" Pikachu cried, happily when it sensed Ash's presence in the room.

"Ash are you alright?" his mother asked, turning around to greet him. "You've been in your room for hours. I was starting to get worried, but I didn't want to bother you."

"I'm fine mom. How's work at the restraint?" he asked. Delia Ketchem was the owner and chief of a small cafe in town. All the local adored her cooking and visited frequently.

"It's been busy then usual, but with Mr. Mine's help I manage." then she added, "So when are you starting your new journey?"

"Actually," Ash said, smiling a little, "I was thinking of staying a Pallet Town a while and helping you and Mr. Mime."


	8. Chapter 8: Back to Headquarters

"I thought you said he was strong." Silver growled as he leaped out of the hot air balloon's basket. He and the trio had arrived at the Team Rocket Headquarters in Kanto.

The Headquarters building was a massive structure located at the center of a shallow canyon. It was built so that no one except the members of Team Rocket would ever discover its location. The entire structure was coated with an advance cloaking device so that not even a Champion's Alakazam could pick up its position. Even the members of Team Rocket had to wear special Scope Goggles designed by former Silphe scientists just to see it.

James scratched his head, embarrassed. "Well you see, the thing is-" he began.

"Nevermind." Silver brushed him off and snatched a pair of goggles from Meowth's paw. Then he turned and mumbled quietly under his breath, "Bloody waste of time."

"I wonder what the Boss could want with us?" Jessie said, to no one in particular.

"That's why we're here." Silver said, sarcastically.

"It must be important." James, concluded, "Or he could have asked Dr. Zager to tell us through the tablet."

"I just hope it's not training new recruits again." Silver groaned at the thought.

They entered the building and were greeted by his father's secretary, a woman with short purple hair whose name Silver had already forgotten. "Mr. Giovanni is waiting for you in his office." she said.

"Yes, very well." Silver said, sliding the goggles to the top of his forehead.

"Twerp Boss?" Jessie said.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" Silver shouted. He sighed and shook his head disparagingly. "You can leave. My father only requested me. Your presence has neither been requested nor desired."

As he followed the secretary down the hall, he heard the trio whisper to each other. "Do you think he means-" Jessie said.

"We're fired?" all three said in unison.

"He just mean we should work harder!" Meowth cried, "To catch Pikachu!"

"For Pikachu!" the trio cried.

Authors Notes:

1. If you found the ending to this chapter confusing, no worries, it will all be explained soon.

2. If you haven't already noticed Silver is different from the game and manga versions. This is because Silver never officially appeared in the anime and I am setting up a new backstory of him. He is still Giovanni's son, but instead of being abandoned, he has been training to become the heir of Team Rocket since he was little. He and his father are on fairly good terms. He is one of the executives of the organization and often teaches new recruits battle strategy though he doesn't have much patience for it.


	9. Chapter 9: Rekindled Spirits

"For the capture of Pikachu!" the trio cried, throwing their fist in the air.

James frowned and lowered his hand. "Hey what's the matter James?" Jessie asked.

"The twerp lost, to the twerp." he sighed, "Maybe that means-"

"That Pikachu's not worth getting." Jessie added.

"And we've been wasting our time." Meowth finished.

The trio let out a collective sigh and stared at the ground.

"But wait!" Meowth said, suddenly.

"What!?" Jessie complained, "Can't you see we're trying to mope!?"

"I just thought of something!" Meowth cried, "We already caught Pikachu! It didn't get a chance to use Thunderbolt!"

"So that means!" Jessie said, brightening.

"Pikachu." James said.

"Is still top priority!" Meowth finished.

"So we have to catch that Pikachu!" James shouted, clenching his fists.

"For the Boss!" the trio said together.

Meowth smirked, "I have a plan..."

These chapters are short, oh well, bite me...


End file.
